Scrappy Happy and Binny McBinface: Pupils name new bin wagons
Residents will soon be having their household food waste collected by Baron von Banana Peel, Scrappy Happy and, of course, Binny McBinface after local school pupils named the new bin wagons for the borough.
The challenge formed part of the council's work with schools to encourage waste reduction and increase understanding of food recycling.
Pupils were invited to develop presentations showcasing their ideas, with schools earning the opportunity to name the new 15 waste vehicles.
Weatherhead High School was crowned the overall winner.
Amelia, a committee member of the school’s Eco Club, said they chose the name Scrappy Happy as ‘we thought it's picking up scraps and it's going to be happy while doing it.’
Other entries from schools took on an aristocratic theme with Sir Scraps-a-lot, Lord Caddy, Lady Peelington and Baron van Banana Peel all featuring, alongside Greener Gina, Peels on Wheels and The Leftover Lifter.
As a prize for scooping the top slot, members of the Weatherhead High’s Eco Club will visit Biogen's facility in Wales, which converts commercial and household food waste into renewable energy and bio-fertiliser. Pupils will make a film exploring what happens to food waste once it has been collected from Wirral.
Runners up were St Peter & Paul's Primary School while Liscard Primary School and Dawpool CofE Primary School also took part in the challenge.
We got the brand-new bins in school a few months ago and we've been recycling a lot more. It's been really good because food waste is now going somewhere else instead of landfill. We're thinking a lot more consciously and it's helped us save more food and money.
Weekly food waste collections were introduced in Wirral in July. Many households have embraced the service and are recycling more, while reducing the amount of waste placed in their green bins.
It is forecast that around 8,000 tonnes of food waste will be recycled per year. During the recycling process, food waste will be used to create green electricity from biogas captured.
We recognise that introducing food waste recycling has been a significant change for residents, and I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and for embracing the new service. The response has been fantastic, with residents showing a real commitment to separating food waste from their general rubbish.
Recycling food waste can be used to generate renewable energy, produce fertiliser and is also a more efficient option than sending it for incineration.
I’d also like to congratulate all the schools that took part in the recent challenge. The pupils came up with some excellent ideas and innovative approaches, and everyone who participated should be proud of what they have achieved.
Waste collection vehicle names
1 Sir Scraps-a-lot
2 The Peel Deal
3 Scrappy Happy
4 The Compostible
5 Binny McBinface
6 Bobby the bin wagon
7 The Leftover Lifter
8 Lord Caddy
9 Greener Gina
10 Peels on Wheels
11 Lady Peelington
12 Baron von Banana Peel
13 Sustainable Sue
14 Eco Eddie
15 Wirral Wasteater
